after the storms

When the fear crept back in last Friday, I was shocked.
I was talking with a friend and kept declaring: “I thought I was done with that!”
Not so.
The Devil is a sly one and he knows where we are weakest and prowls around waiting to pounce back in.

As the storms have passed and I’ve had a few days to process last Friday, I’ve realized a couple of things. The first being that I’ve not been in the Word enough. I found myself floundering last Friday. All the Scripture that I had clung to for the past year when I felt the fear rising, wouldn’t come up. I find myself in a pretty dry place spiritually right now and therefore I need to be in His word even more than before.
I need to be filling my mind with Scripture and
preparing for the battle that is and will wage.

The other thing was the reminder I received from a commenter. She so eloquently said that when we live in the present, we are covered by His grace. In the here and now, we are walking with Him and He has promised us His protection. But when we move into the future, into the what-ifs, we move out of that covering and grace.
So true.

When the winds howl and the forecast is bleak, my mind does not stay on the present. It leaps light years into the future and to all the ways I need to be prepared. I lost most of Friday because I was battling this here and now thing. I lost what God was offering me at that very moment.

Colossians 3 talks about peace. We are called to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. When I become overcome with fear, fear is ruling my heart not peace.
But how do we let that peace rule?
by a heart of thankfulness
by counting blessings
by letting His word dwell in our hearts
by singing psalms and hymns

The Valley of Vision has a beautiful line in prayer #9:Help me to pray in faith and so find thy will,
by leaning hard on thy rich and free mercy…
strengthen me to pray with the conviction that whatever I receive is thy gift.

We are dog searching and while we were visiting with one particular dog this past weekend, he started leaning hard into me wanting some affection. The woman declared, “see how he is trying to get as close to you as possible because he likes you and wants some love? He can’t get close enough”
I want to lean into the Lord like that.
Leaning with all my might because I can’t get close enough to Jesus.